Another Year Over

And we are worse off than we were a year ago. Obama is exactly the disaster we expected him to be. Perhaps more shameless than expected, given the Chairman Mao ornament on the White House Christmas tree. But one man’s mass murdering totalitarian dictator is another man’s hero, right?

The endless war against the barbarians continues, as we sit like prisoners on our airplanes, unwilling to defeat those who continue to attack us. Perfectly able to defeat them, of course, but completely unwilling to assert our right to self-defense. So we cast suspicious glances at airline passengers, instead, and hope for the best.

In Iran, a revolution may be brewing. But suppose the mullahs are overthrown, and a new, presumably non-theocratic, regime takes power. Can we trust Obama to do the right thing? After all, Ahmedinejad was elected. Won’t Obama call for his reinstatement, as he did with the Chavez-imitator down in Honduras? After all, revolutions are not legal.

“We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the democratically elected president there,” Obama said.

Just insert the name Ahmedinejad, and you have a good idea what Obama might say.

On the environmentalist front, the global warming gravy-train continues chugging along, distributing government largesse at every stop. Not just for scientists on the government dole, now, but for every country that can think of a reason to make the West feel guilty for being the beacon of civilization for the last 500 years or so. That is an unforgivable sin, when one’s goal is an Earth rid of the disease, Man.

The spectacle of Senators selling their votes for cash would embarrass men of integrity. Since there aren’t any such men in the Senate, the Senators are merely puzzled at the reaction to their venality. It’s a time honored tradition there. So what if it involves the incipient nationalization of the health care industry? What makes them special? Truly, nothing makes them special. If car makers can be taken over by the government, so can medical practitioners. Some of us don’t think it’s right for car makers to be taken over by the government either, if individual rights have any meaning. Obviously, to our current governors, they do not.

On the positive side of the ledger, Obama’s popularity with the public is plummeting. On the negative side, that means we might get a Republican in office again. Heads they win, tails we lose.

We all know there is only one long term solution to our problems: a rational philosophy. With a rational philosophy comes a rational morality, egoism. To that end, the best news this year is the continued high sales of Atlas Shrugged, and especially the continued success of the books for teachers program of the Ayn Rand Institute. If we can reach enough of them before their spirit is killed by the comprachicos, we might still right the ship before it sinks.

National Security Workforce to Address ‘Intersectionality’: do you ever get the sense that you’re in a waking nightmare? Money quote from the memo: “Our greatest asset in protecting the homeland and advancing our interests abroad is the talent and diversity of our national security workforce.”

Last Week Tonight on Donald Trump: bit long, but great takedown of the Trump mythos. In a more rational political environment, this would have killed his presidential campaign. I’m not sure it’ll make any difference.

A Responsibility I Take Seriously: nominee must be “without any particular ideology or agenda” and have “a keen understanding that justice is not about abstract legal theory, nor some footnote in a dusty casebook.” I sure hope the Republicans can hold the line on his nominations.

Trigger Warnings in Annapolis: I’m not sure why I expected the service academies to be bastions of academic freedom, but I did. It’s much worse than the universities since they’re far more hierarchical.

Announcing the Twitter Trust & Safety Council: this is within their rights, of course. Given the leftist leanings of the company and its assembled Council of Goodspeech, I suspect that some groups will get a pass and some will face suppression. Chilling at any rate.